HAYFIELD — The Hayfield baseball team found a way to shake the springtime blues.

They went south, they played some baseball scrimmages, and they had a good time.

The Vikings recently went down to Cocoa, Fla. on a four-day trip that the team plans on taking every three years from now on. Hayfield head coach Kasey Krekling thought the trip would help the team increase in numbers and get the squad to bond together.

Krekling’s team surprised even him with how well they got along.

“The team bonding part of it was huge. It was bigger than I thought it would be. They did everything together, whether they were going to the pool or the mall,” Krekling said. “The baseball part helps, but that wasn’t really the purpose of the trip. The purpose was to give them a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a trip with the teammates they’ve grown up with. It’s something for them to look forward to.”

This year’s Hayfield team has seven seniors, which is why Krekling chose this to be the first group to make the trip to Florida. The trip gave the Vikings a much needed break from practice in the gym and the cold weather that Minnesota brings in the spring.

“It was a blast being with the guys,” Hayfield senior Drew Streightiff said. “It was nice to see some live pitching and get some good cuts in too. It was very helpful. It was kind of depressing when we came back and saw the snow.”

Hayfield scrimmaged against Stewartville, a team from New York and a team from Illinois while it was down south. The Vikings learned just as much off the field as they did on it, and Krekling forced the team to eat at restaurants that aren’t available in the Midwest.

Hayfield senior Mat Walters said the team is much better off in all aspects after spending that much time together.

“It helped us quite a bit,” Walters said. “We’re more prepared now than we were before the trip. As a team, we feel closer than we did before.”

Krekling said the Hayfield community stepped up to make the trip happen. About 60 percent of each players’ costs were provided by funds raised by the Vikings over the past three years.

Krekling wanted to make sure there would be a baseball trip for his team the day he took over the squad three years ago.

“When I took over the program I wanted to start doing a big trip to spark interest and give them something to look forward to

once very three years,” Krekling said. “It was just nice to see green grass without water sitting all over it.”

Now the Vikings are back to practicing in the gym and they are at the mercy of the weather as to when they can get outside again. They’re home opener is supposed to be Monday against Goodhue at 5 p.m., but that game is likely to be postponed.